Izaya II: Dark Fighters
by Rayne Falcon-Punches Hanson
Summary: Izaya and Teko are back and ready to take on the world-literally. Join them as they traverse Haven City and learn things they never knew they never knew.
1. Back In Black

"_Silent, slumbering giants wait to be awakened. Two heroes, destined to save the planet. One is silent and dark as death itself. The other is cheerful and a shining beacon to many. They will soon find out that not everything is the same as it used to be, and it never will be again._"  
Hey, it's me again. Yeah, Izaya. Last you heard from me, I was still seventeen and fixing up the Citadel, right? Well, things have changed since then. I guess I should start by saying that I got to stay in the Citadel for a good couple of years, fixing it up and studying Dark Eco. Yeah, I know what happened to Gol and Maia when they did that, obviously.  
But as you probably remember, Dark Eco, even when I got hit with a rather large amount of it, had absolutely no effect on me. Well, it did have one... But I'll save that for when it's relevant. Anyway, Samos enlightened me to my true destiny, what I was really supposed to do.  
Apparently, there is supposed to be a Sage of Dark Eco, and apparently, that Sage just so happens to be me. That's why it didn't affect me.  
But either way, I spent a few years in the Citadel, studying Dark Eco, and even salvaging Gol and Maia's remains from the Silo. I put them in a special vat of carefully made Light Eco to 'detox' them from the Dark Eco. They're slowly changing back to what they're supposed to be.  
But I didn't do that until I had experimented a little. Teko's human again, thanks to that experimentation, though. She's happy, but there's one tiny problem. I didn't leave her in the Light Eco long enough, so she can shape-shift between Ottsel and human forms now. And while that's not exactly a problem, as such, she tends to choose her Ottsel form over her human form most of the time.  
"Been an Ottsel too long. I'm too used to it; my human form just feels weird... And I feel naked without my fur." She said when I inquired about it right before our second adventure started.  
"You confuse me sometimes, Teko." I replied, shaking my head.  
There was a knock on the door, mostly to signify that someone was there than because of necessity. I didn't bother looking to see who it was, just continuing to work.  
"The door is open!" I called.  
I heard it open and heavy footsteps approach me at my lab table.  
"Still experimenting, Izaya?"  
"Why not? It's not like I can know too much about Dark Eco." I replied.  
Yeah, that one effect the Dark Eco had? I can talk now because of it. I didn't notice at first, since I'm naturally a relatively quiet person. I looked behind me, at Jak. Daxter hadn't come with him this time, apparently. Daxter never was around when I felt talkative. He still hadn't heard me say anything since before the fight with Gol and Maia.  
"Daxter still not like coming up here?" I asked.  
"Nope. Reminds him too much of the chance he lost." He replied.  
"And yet, he told me he's had plenty of chances to change back but never took them."  
"The one chance he actually wanted, then." Jak amended.  
"So, what did you come up here for? It's not like you to just visit."  
"Heh, you know me too well." He chuckled, "Samos sent me up here to get you. We're heading to Haven City and he wants you to come along."  
"Oooh, I get to go to the future. Nice!" I said, "Except for the fact that it's ravaged and pretty much broken."  
Jak rolled his eyes. "Oh, be nice. Haven is my home, whether I like it or not."  
I chuckled, "Oh, I know, I know. I'm just not all that keen on war-ravaged places. Most distastefully bad Juju comes outta places like that."  
"Yeah, well you'll give them all the creeps too, Izaya."  
Teko laughed at that before changing back into an Ottsel and jumping onto my shoulder. She did her usual lazy number and laid down across my shoulders and the back of my neck instead of standing up. I rolled my eyes now but followed him out of the Citadel. We hopped through the Warp Gate, and then we were in Samos' hut.  
"Hey, Gramps. Long time no see!" Teko immediately said, completely eliminating the need for me to say anything.  
It seemed like Teko and Daxter were determined to make sure no one knew I could talk. I shared a look with Jak but just gave up.  
"Don't call me that, you furry little— Whuh?!"  
She had jumped off my shoulder and turned back into a human. "What was that about being furry?"  
I snickered behind my hand at the shock in the room. None of them had seen her since I isolated us up in the Citadel. None of them but Jak, that is. He was the only one willing to go up there and visit me from time to time.  
"What're you sniggering about?" Daxter asked in annoyance.  
Yet again, I didn't even have to say anything. Damn it Teko, couldn't you have let me say something to him, at least? It gets frustrating when you actually can talk, but no one gives you the chance. I know why you weren't letting me talk, but maybe we should've let him in on it.  
"She's sniggering at you guys because you didn't expect to see me back in my original form." She scrunched up her nose. "Okay, I feel really naked without my fur. I'm changing back now."  
And with that, she hopped back onto my shoulder.  
"Anyway, we're goin' to Haven City? Why'd you want us to come, Old Green Stuff?"  
"I wanted you and Izaya to get a look at what you'll no doubt be experiencing again sometime soon. Soon for you because you'll be locked in stasis until after we bring you back here."  
"Wait, what? Locked in stasis where? I don't understand a word that just came out of your mouth, Old Man!"  
"Well, we're taking you to Haven City so you can know what to expect. You'll be in stasis pods in Gol and Maia's Citadel up until after we bring the present versions of you back here. I can't tell you exactly when you'll be put in stasis or how long you'll actually have to wait to get out, but this is basically a survival run." Jak explained.  
"So… let me get this straight, you're basically throwing us to the dogs and making sure we can actually survive in Haven before you bring us back here and then go back to wake us up, right?" Teko asked after a moment.  
"That's a rough translation, but accurate." Torn replied.  
"Okay, bring it on."  
"Shouldn't you ask Izaya about it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Nope. She agrees. I've known her long enough to know that."  
When they looked at me I only rolled my eyes. I didn't trust Teko not to interrupt me. They all took that as a yes and had Jak power up the Rift Rider and Rift Ring—new versions that Keira had been working on for some time. For some reason, no one else could get it powered up.  
So we piled into the Rift Rider and waited for it to shoot into the Ring.  
"Hopefully it doesn't fall apart and scatter us this time." Daxter said nervously.  
"I built this one sturdier than the last one. Don't worry about it, Dax." Keira said offhandedly.  
If I could've gotten a word in edgewise, I would've made a remark about my confidence in that, but, as usual, I was interrupted.  
"Why does that not inspire confidence in me?" Teko asked.  
_Took the words right out of my mouth. The little bugger._  
I just rolled my eyes again and waited. And, right when I started to get impatient and opened my mouth to say something, we shot forward at an insane speed. You have to understand that for me to call any speed insane it has to be very, very fast, so you can grasp exactly how fast we were going. And let me tell you, my skin was flat against my cheekbones. Yeesh, I've never moved that fast in my life.  
And then, it spat us out, in mid-air. If it weren't for the fact that I've never been scared of heights, I probably would've screamed along with Teko and Daxter, but, along with Jak, I just stoically watched as the city grew closer and closer to the edge of the Rift Rider. At the same time, we grabbed our furry friends and jumped off the side, rolling into a standing position. We high fived with blank expressions.  
I looked around blankly. _Oh, bugger..._

* * *

**A/N: Oh yeah, Izaya and Teko are backa and ready for action! Enjoy!**


	2. Hello, Hellhole!

Welcome to Haven City, hellhole and Cess Pool, where you never lose your will to fight, and all that's wrong is right. It's a veritable cornucopia of death, destruction, war, and conflict. Never in the history of our world has there been a place so ravaged by warfare, with the exception of Spargus, but as I hadn't been there yet at this point, I didn't know that.

I let out a low whistle as I looked around, not noticing the looks I was getting from everyone else. I nodded to myself in satisfaction.

"Man, this place is a dump!" Teko said.

Jak turned to me. "What do you think, Izaya?"

I examined a crashing Zoomer closely. Before I could say anything, he chuckled.

"Seriously? 'Teko hates it... I could live here.'?" He asked.

I turned to him in shock. _How the hell does he do that?!_

Teko grinned, "Tired of not being able to keep your thoughts to yourself, aren't you, Izaya?" She asked.

I stuck my tongue out at her and summoned a glob of Dark Eco into my hand. She backed off, holding her hands up. I knew it just meant she didn't want Dark Eco thrown into her face, but it was still an invitation to say something. I didn't have anything to say, though, so I just went back to looking around, reabsorbing the Dark Eco.

"So... This is supposed to be your home, Jak? Man, I can smell the waste..." Teko said, waving her hand in front of her nose.

"You get used to it." Daxter said, offhandedly, "And you even have a different form you can revert to. It won't be nearly as strong then, trust me. Ottsel senses are a pretty big stretch from human ones."

Teko made a sound in response before hopping onto her shoulder and plugging her nose. When Daxter gave her a questioning look, she said, "Well, my human form makes me edgy. I can't hear as much then, and I feel naked without fur, so..."

He nodded. "Probably a good thing you can change back and forth, then, isn't it?"

"Yeah, cause there's some stuff that Izaya can't do in human form-like touch Light Eco-that I can, either way. But there's stuff that neither of us could normally do that I can in this form, so... yeah."

Keira was examining my hair. "You should probably braid your hair, Izaya. Around here, you never know what it could get caught on, which is why I keep mine short."

I grunted in response. It _was_ past my knees, so she had a point. But for the moment I just gathered it all up and tied it in a bun with a black ribbon that usually resided around my wrist.

"She said she'll do it later." Teko provided.

Keira nodded in understanding at me. Jak took the lead and we began walking through the slums toward the better parts of town. I took up the rear to talk to Teko.

"You don't have to translate for me, buddy. I can talk, after all." My voice was already starting to get raspy.

"Yeah, but, me and Jak sorta made a pact to make sure the others get surprised when you finally speak up. So could you play along and let me translate for a while?" She asked, grinning.

"Surprise everyone else with my ability to talk? Hm... Sounds good to me. Translate away."

Now that I knew why they weren't letting me get in a word, I was much more content to sit back and let them do the talking for me. After all, I'm a prankster by nature, and this was the perfect prank. Especially if I waited a few months, or until after I'd gone into stasis, to say anything to them. I grinned to myself, and Teko grinned back.

"Prankster by nature, right?" She asked. "I thought you'd like the idea, but I didn't get time to explain earlier."

I nodded. This was going to be fun, when we finally reaped what we'd sewn. I couldn't imagine Ashelin and Torn looking anything but stern, so shock was going to be funny as hell.

We finally made our way into a place called '_The Naughty Ottsel_', which I had no doubt Daxter owned. And he did, and made sure Teko and I knew that, boasting about it loudly until I slapped him.

"She said, 'Shut the hell up, furball.'." Teko said, leaning against the counter in human form.

Daxter glared at me but got up without a word. This was fun. Jak, technically, couldn't do anything to me, since he'd been getting annoyed too.

Torn and Ahselin just looked amused.

"I like you. Straightforward and not aftraid to fight. You'd make a great soldier." Ashelin said.

"Or a great Wastelander." Jak offered, "Less rules when you're a Wastelander, and a lot more fun."

"And...there he goes. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Gruesome over there likes to blow things up. I do too, but he has so much more fun with it." Daxter said, shaking his head.

Jak was telling me about a gun mod that shot off electricity and hit any enemies that were close together. Within seconds I was completely absorbed in the conversation. Hey, what can I say, I like guns. And I like to blow stuff up. Can you really blame me? Didn't think so.

We got into a one-sided conversation about guns that lasted a few minutes. The door opened in the middle, which is why we stopped. When the person who opened it walked in, I knew I was going to like living in Haven.

A large dark-skinned man stood in the doorway, grinning. "Howdy, Chilli Peppers!" He said.

"Sig!" Daxter yelled, perking up.

_Sig? Is that that guy's name? Or a nickname? Or a greeting here in Haven when a friend walks in? Ow... My head hurts..._

Jak grinned, "Long time no see, big guy."

"I agree. Who're the new ladies?" He asked.

"I'm Teko, and this is Izaya. She can't talk." Teko said.

I rolled my eyes and elbowed her in the gut.

"Okay, she _can_, technically, but it takes a lot of effort that she prefers to use to kill stuff. Like Metal Heads." She amended.

I nodded.

"Oh, so we've got another Demolition Duo on our hands?"

I grinned and patted my old gun lightly. Teko just hopped back onto my shoulder, changing form on the fly.

"You two are the spitting images of Jak and Daxter. Soon you won't be so happy about being here." He said.

"Are you kiddin'? I don't wanna be here anyway." Teko said, "But Izaya enjoys destruction, and death, and killing anything that gets in her way, including other people sometimes."

"Then she'll fit right in." Another voice said.

Behind the man, a monk with facepaint appeared.

"Seem? What brings _you_ to Haven?" Jak asked.

"I was told by our Makers that a new Dark One was to arrive today. It seems they were correct." Seem walked toward me and examined me closely, "As much Dark Eco as you have should have killed you. But you are the one foretold of. I can feel it."

I shared a look with Teko, raising my eyebrow. She shook her head.

"To have so much Dark Eco within your body without it affecting you at all is quite a feat. Only the one the Makers told of could ever hope to accomplish it without being transformed or killed in the process." Seem elaborated.

I nodded slowly, still not exactly understanding. And I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"If Jak would consent to it, I would like to bring you and your friend into Spargus to explain to you your destinies."

I felt only slight panic at the idea, and looked to Jak, raising my eyebrow again. I was kind of wondering why he would have to consent to it and not me, but it was likely because he was probably supposed to be keeping an eye on me while I was on my survival run.

"Not right at the moment, Seem. She's... on the survival run. When she's been returned, we'll bring the one who's meant to be here to you." Jak said.

Seem nodded. "Ah, then she is still visiting." Seem bowed to me. "I look forward to teaching you what you need to know."

"And she looks forward to learning it." Teko said, seeming shocked at what I was thinking.

"So we've got a Demolition Duo with one of them being an Ottsel version of Pecker. Sweet." The man said. "Anyway, I'm Sig. You seemed kinda confused when Dax greeted me."

I nodded, the answer to my previous questions told to me.

"She literally just said, '_Oh_...'." Teko laughed, drawing out the word.

I swatted her but smiled anyway. I couldn't blame her for knowing my basic thoughts and repeating them when they were funny. Sig watched us in amusement.

"Well, how would you two like to join Jak in being Wastelanders? I know this is just the first visit, but you should be trained in the rules before you actually get here, just so you'll know.

Teko looked at me. I nodded. "Sounds good to us!" She exclaimed for me.

* * *

**A/N: Second Chapter! Enjoy! :D**


	3. Wastelanding

**A/N: Third Chapter! Enjoy! :D**

* * *

It was a long night that night. Sig and Jak took us out in the middle of the desert. Yeah, that's pretty normal for Wastelanding training, but they _left us there_! By ourselves! All I had was my ratty old gun and Dark Eco powers, and there were _thousands_ of Metal Heads. It wasn't until well after the literal middle of the night that Teko and I managed to get into a cave and settle down for the night.

"I'll take first watch, buddy. Get some sleep and I'll wake you up." I said.

She nodded and lay down. A few minutes later I heard her snoring quietly.

I rested my hands on my gun and sat in the mouth of the cave, constantly alert. I considered waking Teko up to take watch, but instead I sat up all night and just let her sleep. She needed it more than I did. And I'm not just being stupid, I literally need a lot less sleep than most people, since the Dark Eco in my system keeps me awake. I can go about a week without sleep before I get to the point of exhaustion.

At sunrise, none of the nearby Metal Heads had come to investigate us, but a few had sent us wary glances. It was either because they knew I could kill them or my Dark Eco deterred them, of course, but it set me at ease knowing they wouldn't bother us too much. I woke Teko up and she gave me a lecture on staying up all night. I only rolled my eyes and put my hand over her mouth.

"Quiet. The Metal Heads haven't bothered us yet, but if you don't shut up I can't guarantee they won't eat us."

She snapped her mouth shut and looked over my shoulder at the approaching hoards. "Me and my big mouth..." She muttered before jumping onto my shoulder.

My gun still in hand I burst through the ranks of Metal Heads, making my way to the rendezvous that Jak and Sig had designated for them to come pick us up. It was a few hours later that they came to get us, and I had already felled hundreds of Metal Heads. I was out of ammo when they got there and was _very_ impatient to get back into Haven. I leveled my most threatening glare at Jak when he asked if we'd had a nice time.

"I'm gonna take that as a 'no'." He said, still grinning.

"Ya think?" I snapped, my voice a lot scratchier than it should've been. "Do you have any idea how many times I've had to save Teko's ass in the past few hours?"

She flinched, "Hey, I'm small and furry! Can you blame me for _not_ wanting to be on your shoulder when those things pounce on you?"

Jak smirked. "Oh, then you're gonna have fun being a Wastelander, Teko. 'Cause I intend to get you into shape too."

She paled considerably. "Does this include guns? Because I can't fire a gun anymore. Too many accidents in the Citadel..."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"She sucks at aiming." I said, jumping into the back of the rover.

Teko clambered up after me. "Hey, I can't help it!"

"Then I'll have Daxter teach you some basic Ottsel attacks. He's gotten pretty good at taking out Metal Heads in that form." Jak amended, shrugging.

"I can handle that." Teko said, nodding.

"Thought you couldn't talk." Sig said to me slyly.

"We're pulling a prank on everybody. They still think I can't, since they've only ever heard me say two sentences while I was in shock." I replied, finally relaxing a bit. "And it's so much easier to let Jak and Teko do the talking. I just stand there and look intimidating."

He smiled. "You're one tough cherry, Izaya. Already pulling pranks in Haven."

I chuckled. "I'm a born prankster. Man, Keira would always get so irritated at me..."

Teko laughed as we approached the wall outside Haven. "Yeah, I remember that one time..."

And we spent the rest of the journey to the Naughty Ottsel recounting to Sig and Jak all of the pranks we'd ever pulled on Keira, leaving us all in stitches. Sig had to stop twice because he was laughing so hard.

"You cherries are hilarious!" Sig laughed as we pulled up.

I grinned. "Thanks. We try."

And then we walked in and I fell silent. Teko continued to tell them of the pranks, even as we approached the bar and Keira gave us a knowing look when Teko mentioned a wrench.

"You're telling them about the pranks you pulled on me, aren't you?" She asked sourly.

Teko grinned, "Pranks? What pranks?"

"Brat." Keira said, turning away.

Teko stuck her tongue out at her and blew a raspberry. I spotted a glass of water on one of the tables, completely abandoned by whoever had been drinking it. I shushed everyone else, including Daxter, and picked it up. I walked up behind Keira and dumped it on her head, ice cubes and all, except for one that I held onto.

"_IZAYA!_" She yelled.

I laughed and bent over as she tried to shake it all off. She turned around again, and that ice cube I had kept was promptly stuck in her bra. She jumped with a squeal.

"Oh my gods, Izaya! You are _so_ _EVIL!_" She said, jumping about and trying to get the ice cube out.

I just about keeled over laughing at her. Torn and Ashelin looked mildly amused, while Daxter and Teko were on the floor laughing. Jak was in the same position I was, and Sig was leaned back in a chair laughing even louder than the rest of us. Samos walked into the room and raised his eyebrows.

"And what is going on in here?" He asked.

Keira, who had finally managed to get rid of the ice cube, looked him in the eye. "Izaya happened." She motioned to her drenched form.

The ice cube was tossed at me before she stalked away to find something to dry off with. It just made me laugh harder.

"Man, that was funny!" Teko said. "I don't know why, but it was! Probably because Izaya's usually a sourpuss up in the Citadel, all work and nothing else..."

"All work and no play makes Izaya a dull Sage." Daxter said absently, fixing Jak a drink in the process.

"Now _that's_ talent." Teko said. "That's the fastest I've _ever_ seen someone make a Jaeger Bomb."

I grunted in agreement, nodding. Daxter grinned at me. "Want one?" He asked.

I shrug-nodded. He fixed me one as well and handed it to me.

"How old are you, anyway?' He asked.

"19." Teko said for me.

He clicked his tongue. "Well, then I can't say anything. You're still too young to drink, but Jak and I were 17 and 16, respectively."

I shook my head at him, making the 'shame' hand movements a few times **(1)**. He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Hey, Jak was missing and I didn't have anything else to do for the better part of two years. Can you blame me for turning into an alchoholic for a little while?" He asked, "I was crushed."

I rolled my eyes.

"That's no excuse." Teko said, shaking her head in disapproval.

"I agree." Jak said, "I thought you said you were looking for me for those two years."

"I had no idea where they took you and got discouraged after the first eight months. Took up bar-hopping in hopes of getting a tip, but never got anywhere with that either, so I just started drinking. Wasn't until Osmo found me that I managed to get an idea of how to find you. And the rest, well, you know that part." Daxter said, shrugging.

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head with a chuckle. Teko gave me a calculating look for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Did that mean, 'I need to hear that full story sometime.'?" She asked unsurely.

I raised my hand parallel to the ground and tipped it side to side a couple times, telling her 'more or less'. She seemed extremely proud of herself, if the look on her face was anything to go by. I smiled slightly before turning to Daxter. He was watching us with interest, lots of interest.

I raised my eyebrow.

"You two are just really interesting to watch. Jak and I can't get anywhere near that level of communication. I can hardly tell the difference between 'be quiet' and 'speak up' with him."

I smiled.

"That's 'cause we've always had to communicate like this. You two are guys, so you have different ways to communicate. But me and Izaya have to make hand signals...or give each other looks, such as the one she's giving me right now." Teko said.

I had blanked my face, shaking my head, the basic message being, 'You don't know what you're talking about.'

"No, no I don't, actually."

Daxter shook his head. "Seriously, if I could talk with Jak like that when he was a mute, life would've been so much easier."

I raised an eyebrow at Jak. I knew he was a man of few words—swear words not included—, but him being a mute like I was at one point was a little weird. He just chuckled.

"Dark Eco seems to have a relaxant effect on the vocal chords, at least to those of us who put up the effort to say more than a word at a time in dangerous situations." He said.

I rolled my eyes at him. _I say more than that, especially around you!_ I wanted to snap. But I didn't. Teko just laughed.

"I'm not even going to translate that." She said, by way of cover-up. "She just called him some very nasty things…"

Even Keira seemed mildly amused by us, now that she wasn't frozen or soaked anymore. "You two are such goofballs."


	4. Attacks and Alcohol Mix Well

**A/N: Here ya go! And special thanks to EchoMizuki for their continued support!**

* * *

It was a few hours later that a knock sounded at the front door. It struck me as odd, because The Naughty Ottsel was still open, and not due to close for another few hours.

Daxter, though, obviously knew exactly who it was, and acted accordingly. "Izaya, Teko, behind the bar and on the floor, _now._ No arguments." He stated through clenched teeth.

Knowing exactly how sharp the teeth and claws of an Ottsel where, and not being too keen on finding out again, I was over the counter half a second after he'd given the order. Teko quickly landed next to me. We only had to wait a short second before the door crashed open and gunfire ripped through the air, and some of the liquor bottles exploded, showering Teko and I with alcohol and broken glass.

Almost simultaneously, screams erupted from various places in the bar, including the area to my immediate left, where Teko quickly slapped her hand over her own mouth and whimpered.

I tried to watch the action in the reflections on the remaining bottles and the mirror, and managed to get a vague picture of what was happening. Not satisfied with what little I could see, I sat up a little to look better into the mirror.

Jak had his gun drawn and was firing rapidly at the intruder, who barely seemed fazed for what quickly became obvious reasons. The guy was half machine for Precursor's sake! The bullets just bounced right off.

I wanted so badly to jump out of my hiding place and help Jak, but I was still out of ammo. And, though I hate to admit it—I was scared.

Jak was probably the toughest person I knew, definitely tougher than I was, and yet, he was struggling to even hurt this guy.

He was rapidly approaching the bar, like he knew we were there. I could see the top of the bar in the mirror, and I knew he couldn't see me, so maybe he could sense my Dark Eco.

Suddenly, Jak managed to hit some skin, and the man stopped with an inhuman roar or pain. I didn't stick around for the rest of the fight. I had spotted a door, one that probably led to the stockroom or out into an alley. I was willing to chance it, so, staying low, I grabbed Teko and bolted through the door.

I admit it, it was the cowardly thing to do, but it's probably how Jak and the others managed to drive him out again.

I sat against the door, unmoving, with Teko in my arms for what felt like an eternity that was stretched to its very limit, neither of us daring to so much as breath, let alone speak.

It was a little while after the shots had stopped and the front door had banged closed again that they seemed to notice our absence.

"Hey, shouldn't Teko have jumped out to tell us how awesome that was by now?" Daxter asked.

"You don't think they got hit do you?" Keira immediately thought the worst.

I slowly got up and opened the door. Teko walked out before me.

"Yeah, we got hit alright, but Izaya got us out of the way before anything other than broken glass and whiskey got us. She's smart like that."

I managed to shake off my remaining fear and step out after her, rolling my eyes. If Jak could see how shaken both of us were, he didn't say anything about it. Probably a good thing, too, because I would've blatantly refused the idea of being scared at all while other people were around. I'd have punched him in the face.

"That was Errol." Jak eventually told us, "An old enemy of mine—I don't know why he suddenly chose to attack, before you ask. Usually there's more warning than a knock on the door."

I seriously considered this for a moment before moving around the bar to sit down, apparently shrugging off the incident. As the fear and adrenaline finally faded, I noticed a sharp pain coupled with an insistent burning sensation in my lower leg. Curious, I looked down, pulling my let up at the same time for a better view.

Apparently, in all my fear and adrenaline, I had failed to notice a bullet embedding itself in my calf. Wondering what had caught my attention, everyone else leaned in to see my bullet wound. They barely had time to register the wound before I reached down. I dug around for a second before pulling the bullet out, barely even flinching at it.

'One of yours.' I silently accused Jak as I examined it.

"Sorry, you know I didn't do it on purpose." Jak replied.

I 'mmhmm'd him, but decided not to pursue the matter further, dropping the bullet into one of my coat pockets.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again—you're one tough Cherry, Izaya." Sig said.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes again. I got a few raised eyebrows in response as Sig continued as if I hadn't done so.

"Gunshot wounds are enough to send even some of the toughest Wastelanders crying home to mommy, and here you are brushing them aside like an annoying bug."

I only shrugged at his compliment. Here I was, practically shaking in my boots because of this Errol guy, and Sig was telling me how awesome I was for being able to shrug off a bullet wound. Bullets were a common occurance for me-random ass attacks by a guy who was almost completely made of metal were not.

Jak obviously noticed my tenseness, because he muttered something to Daxter and then said to me, "He's gone, Izaya. You don't have to be so on edge."

Daxter handed me a drink, which I took a drink of with only a slight bit of hesitation. And _damn _was it strong! I blinked slowly before grinning to myself and taking another sip. I already felt a slight buzz, which was crazy, since it usually takes me at _least _three full bottles of Absolut to even get any semblance of a buzz.

I grinned again, taking another drink before opening my mouth and muttering a thank you to Daxter. He seemed shocked, and then I realized I wasn't supposed to be able to talk. "Alcohol plus me equals me being able to talk. If I have enough alcohol, that is." He smiled brightly at me, and my heart, for the first of _ many _times, fluttered uncontrollably because of it. I managed to smile back, and from there the night blurs. I faintly remember draining the last of the contents out of my glass, hearing Teko drunkenly sing a song we'd learnt up in the Citadel, and Daxter joining in. I also remember correcting him on the lyrics hundreds of times while Teko laughed her ass off. Jak eventually led us to a bunker of some sort and directed us toward a bunk, but, like I said, everything was kind of blurry. I only know that I was wondering why in the world I was falling for an Ottsel, and Daxter to boot. 


End file.
